BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- Passage of a bill that would increase court-filing fees statewide is crucial to keeping some Alabama courthouse doors open after Oct. 1, panelists at a Birmingham Bar Association luncheon said today.

HB 688, which could come up for a vote in the state House of Representatives Wednesday, would increase docketing fees in most civil and criminal cases, panelists said. If passed, the bill would go to the Senate.

The fee increase could generate up to $40 million for the judicial system in the budget that takes effect Oct. 1, said Phillip McCallum, president elect of the Alabama State Bar.

But without that money, a funding shortfall in the current budget plan before the Legislature would force court officials to cut up to 500 of the current 1,200 jobs in the state's unified court system, he said.

The panelists were speaking about this year's Law Day theme, "No Courts, No Justice, No Freedom," and the mounting toll from a decade of steady state funding cuts.

Judges say they already are down to minimum staffing, and court clerks' offices already are closing 10 hours per week to catch up with filings.

"We're now seeing the cumulative effect," said Circuit Judge Scott Vowell, the county's presiding judge and a panelist. "This is the worst crisis in my 18 years on the bench."

The proposed court cuts would have the greatest effect on everyday people seeking justice in civil, criminal and domestic relations courts, panelists said.

Even a drop in the number of weeks set aside for jury trials would cause widespread delays in civil justice. Most cases resolve only after judges set a trial date, said Rodney Barganier, president of the Magic City Bar Association.

"If the courthouse is open, the people who need it the most can get their case resolved," the panelist said. "But they can't get resolutions if the courthouse is not open."

State budget cuts have reduced the Jefferson County court clerk's staff from 90 in 2003 to 48 in 2011 -- and only after Court Clerk Anne-Marie Adams found alternate funding for eight of those current positions.

But total court filings are up, and should 80,000 this year, she said. "This cannot last," said Adams, a panelist. "We are in dire need of help."

Jefferson County's financial problems, culminating in the largest government bankruptcy filing in U.S. history last year, have created a "double-whammy" for the courts in the county.

Most court personnel are paid by the state, but the county pays for security officers, including court bailiffs. The current funding agreement with the bankrupt county ends Sept. 30, Vowell said.

"Without court security, we cannot operate," he said. "It would be a danger."

The county commission had provided supplement funding after prior state budget cuts. "We can't go there anymore," Vowell said.

Given the no-new-taxes mentality in Montgomery, court fees provides the only viable source for extra revenue, panelists said.

The fee in Jefferson County to file a non-jury civil suit with more than $50,000 in dispute now is $306. HB668, if passed as written, would add $40 to that fee.